Recently, as I packed my cameras for a trip, it dawned on me how much the contents of my camera bag have changed since the first days of my photographic journey. With all the professional grade Canon cameras and lenses neatly tucked in my bag, it was easy to forget that it wasn’t so long ago when my camera of choice was an entry-level DSLR (Sony A100) and a consumer-grade telephoto zoom lens in the form of the Tamron 70-300mm.…
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How to Update Firmware on Fujifilm Cameras
If you own a Fuji X-Series camera and you aren’t regularly upgrading the firmware you may be missing out on a number of features that your camera has to offer. Firmware is the software that is operating your camera, and it is responsible for a surprising percentage of your camera’s functionality. While hardware such as the processor and the sensor get all the attention, they wouldn’t do much without the software that controls them. This is true with any manufacturer,…
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Fuji X100F Review
This is an in-depth review of the Fujifilm X100F camera, which was released by Fuji on January 19, 2017. The X100-series cameras have been very popular since they were introduced to the market and the X100F is the fourth iteration of the product. Sporting a 24.3 MP X-Trans CMOS III sensor, a fast X-Processor Pro image processor, an improved 91-point AF system and an updated button layout with joystick autofocus control for easier AF point selection, the X100F is the…
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Colorado Mountains with the Nikon 58mm f/1.2 Noct
Now that Nikon is releasing a 58mm f/0.95 Noct for their Z system, it’s worth taking a look back at their older Noct lens – the 58mm f/1.2 – if only for curiosity’s sake. This is one of Nikon’s most famous lenses, especially for portraiture and nighttime photography, where its output is difficult to match. Recently, for a memorable week of photography, I had a chance to bring the 58mm f/1.2 Noct into the mountains and aspen groves of Colorado.
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Fujifilm X-T3 First Impressions
Until the release of the Fujifilm X-T3 I would have told you that my Fuji camera lineup was complete for a while. The release of the X-T2 two years ago wasn’t enough to make me part with my X-Pro2 and I’ve since picked up the X-H1 as well. But when the T3 was announced I found the new specs compelling enough that I decided to try it out. After shooting with it for a little more than a week, I…
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Nikon 45mm f/2.8D PC-E Review
This is an in-depth review of the Nikon 45mm f/2.8D PC-E, also known as PC-E Micro Nikkor 45mm f/2.8D ED, a special purpose normal-angle lens designed for architecture, commercial, macro, and nature photography. “PC” stands for “Perspective Control”, but I will refer to this type of lens as “tilt-shift” in this article.
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Comparing 5 Top Wide-Angle Astrophotography Lenses
If you want to shoot sharp photos of stars, it helps to have the right lens for the job. After all, a good lens during the day might be a dud for resolving pinpoint stars in a photo’s corners at night. Here, I’ve tested five popular wide-angle lenses for astrophotography: the Laowa 12mm f/2.8, Rokinon 14mm f/2.4, Samyang 14mm f/2.8, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, and Irix 15mm f/2.4. How do they compare?
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Nikon Z7 First Impressions and Sample Photos
I’m sure you already know that we’re going to test the Nikon Z7 camera to its limits here at Photography Life. We have six orders coming our way in total, and we plan to put each copy through its paces while we travel to Jordan and Turkey throughout October. So far, one copy has arrived, and I’ve shot with it in Colorado for the past couple days. Here, I wanted to share my first impressions and sample images.
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Recommended Fuji X100F Settings
The Fuji X100F is the fourth in Fuji’s line of X100 cameras – the X100, X100S, X100T, and X100F. Although it has a refined design and fairly intuitive menu, the camera’s large number of options and controls can make it overwhelming for new buyers. Hopefully, this guide will help clear up some confusion and explain how to use the Fuji X100F, including our recommended settings for each option in the menu.
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Lens Mounts Explained
With Nikon and Canon having recently launched brand new mirrorless system mounts and talking about their benefits, there seems to be quite a bit of confusion among photographers in regards to camera lens mounts. This is especially true for things like “throat size” and “inner diameter”, where different measurements are used to wrongly quantify a mount’s potential. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there regarding mounts and their exact sizes, which is why I decided to write a…
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Sony FE 2x Teleconverter Review
Released in 2016 alongside the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS and Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter is an essential addition to Sony’s full-frame E-mount lineup. Given the relative lack of dedicated telephoto options available to the mount, the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter dramatically enhances the versatility of the lenses it is compatible with: the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS, the Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS and the recently released Sony 400mm f/2.8 GM…
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Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Review
Frequently overshadowed by their more versatile brethren, macro lenses rarely receive much fanfare upon their release. Nonetheless, it is their function as close-up-photography specialists that makes them essential for a range of photographic pursuits like product photography, print reduction and close-up photography of living subjects. This role has made macro lenses a vital element of a camera manufacture’s lens catalog. Their niche design means that that new macro lenses are released rather infrequently, but all major manufactures have at least…
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Canon EOS R vs Sony A7 III vs Sony A7R III
Now that Canon has officially announced its first mirrorless camera, the Canon EOS R, many photographers will be interested to compare it against the latest generation of Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras, particularly the Sony A7 III and A7R III. At $2299, the Canon EOS R fits between the two Sony cameras in price, although it is positioned closer to the A7 III (at $1998). With the Canon name and the company’s famous Dual Pixel AF technology, it promises to be…
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Canon EOS R vs Nikon Z6 vs Nikon Z7
With both Nikon and Canon having released their mirrorless systems, many photographers might be wondering about their similarities and differences. Although Nikon released two mirrorless cameras with 24.5 MP and 45.7 MP resolutions to appeal different photography needs, Canon decided to go ahead with a single 30.4 MP camera at launch. In this article, I would like to take a closer look at all three cameras and compare their specifications side-by-side.
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Canon EOS R vs Canon 5D Mark IV
Now that Canon has entered the full-frame mirrorless world with their EOS R, it’s time to see how this new camera compares to Canon’s current generation of professional DSLRs – specifically, the Canon 5D Mark IV. Both the EOS R and the 5D IV share a number of similar specifications, but their differences are enough to target two relatively different groups of photographers. Here’s what you need to know.
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Everything You Need to Know About Nikon Z Lenses
The new Nikon Z system created quite a bit of interest among many photographers. As a result, there seem to be many questions related to the new Nikon Z lenses that have been announced now and will be revealed in the future. Unfortunately, there are lots of misconceptions and misunderstandings that are getting spread by some people on the Internet, making it difficult to truly understand the capabilities and the potential of the system. In this article, I would like…
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Everything You Need to Know About Nikon Z Cameras
Now that Nikon has announced both the Nikon Z6 and the Z7 mirrorless cameras, it is time for us to take a closer look at these cameras in and go through some of the most important features. Without a doubt, the Nikon mirrorless system is one of the most highly anticipated releases in Nikon’s history. And given that Nikon is moving up to a much larger Z mount, existing Nikon shooters might be wondering whether it is worth moving to…
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Recommended Sony A9 Settings
Sony’s first professional-grade sports-oriented camera, the A9, has created quite a stir ever since its introduction last year. It’s a 24MP, full-frame mirrorless camera that takes up to 20 frames per second with no viewfinder blackout, native 4K video recording, silent operation, and a price that massively undercuts the competition. The result is a camera that is designed to compete with the best of Canon and Nikon’s offerings. In this article, I will provide information on how to best set up…
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Missing Features on the Z6 and Z7 – Which Ones Matter?
Continuing our coverage of the newly-announced Nikon Z6 and Z7 mirrorless cameras, let’s take a step back from the excitement and interest surrounding these two releases and examine the most important features Nikon did not include. As a first-generation release, some compromises were inevitable, but post-announcement chatter has gravitated toward a couple issues in particular. Below, I’ll cover the most glaring faults of the Z6 and Z7, as well as smaller issues that slipped a bit under people’s radars.
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Nikon Z6 vs Nikon D750
If current excitement levels mean anything, the newly announced Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera looks like it will be a huge hit for Nikon. Indeed, it almost appears to be a “mirrorless successor” to the Nikon D750, released four years ago to glowing reviews. That’s partly due to the shared 24 MP resolution and somewhat similar ergonomics (a PASM dial with user-configurable modes). However, considering that Nikon launched the D750 at $2,300 MSRP and the Z6 at just $1,999, it is…
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